New Years Eve 2011

We spent a nice sort of quiet evening at our house for New Years with all kinds of yummy snacks and treats!

Even had our family friend over- "Aunt" Gail to celebrate! She brought the "bubbly" to drink!

Lil'G did some entertaining with daddy's banjo!

Brandon also did some of his own private entertaining for himself, he had earplugs in, so no one could hear him! (sorry for the fuzzy pic, finally figured out I had a fingerprint on my lens!)

Thanks Gail for ringing in the New Year with us! Here's to 2012, may it be a great one!

Bayley Christmas 2011

Santa has arrived! The tree all a glow!

LIl'G got a play cash register, he is now open for business!

I scored a Swatch Watch for Christmas! I have always wanted one and this one is just adorable! Me loves!

The boys (H and Dad) scored bamboo fighting swords. These have been quite a hit, and I don't mean literally, at our house!

Even Dandelion got in on the Christmas fun with some new chew toys and bones. I don't think she knew what to think about all the Christmas stuff, especially all that wrapping paper, although it was fun to shred!

Miss P with her new little Fijit friend to got with her Big Fijit friend she got for her birthday!

H with his new paint ball mask to use with his air-soft guns! H also scored yet another air-soft gun too! His collection is getting large!

Miss P always surprises me with what she wants for Christmas and there is always a stuffed animal on it, guess she does take after me, but mane she has a ton of those things. She is always specific of what kind she wants too! This year it was Rudolph! Santa had to look high and low for this, thanks goodness for the help of a so ever kind elf to help with that!!

Lil'G with his brand new skateboard that is as BIG as he is!! He is in heaven and sooo loves it! Daddy got one too! (sorry Brandon, didn't get any pics of you!)

Merry Christmas one and all! We had a great one and are so blessed with all that we have in life! Loves!

Sunday Thoughts

So at church today we were asked by our Bishop to answer this question, like a fill in the blank if you will.
"The Ward (congregation) I want to live in....
We were given a few minutes to write our answers down and then we could stand and give one of our answers. I thought it was quite interesting and what I found even more interesting were the answers people gave were almost the same as mine!
Here were my answers-
The ward I want to live in is friendly, non-judgemental, no cliques, willing, close knit, loving, learning, and plays by the rules.
Afterwords our Bishop then made an analogy about a rock tumbler. He mentioned that we as a ward are like a rock tumbler, we all rock together and come out polished children of God.
I just love how he used this analogy and what it meant to me. What a great feeling knowing that others in the ward think like I was thinking about the ward we wanted to live in. Being out here in the east alone with no family in the same state has it's challenges, but knowing that I am a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints helps me to realize that I do have family here, my church family. They are people we can rely on for help, comfort, friendship, and love. I am truly grateful for the friendships I have made through the years living here. They are truly friendships I will always cherish.

Sunday Thoughts

Too funny that I heard this quoted in church a few weeks ago, and then stumble upon the same quote on Pinterest!
I had never heard this quote before and it totally stood out to me for some reason and I love it!
Thought I would share it with you!

Thanksgiving 2011

Thanks to our wonderful hosts- Matt and Lora Lyons, we had a wonderful Thanksgiving this year!

Me proudly displaying my awesome jello ring! (Yes, I finally had my first Tupperware party and scored the jello ring mold! Reminds me of my Nana, when she used to make jello!)

Here is the kid table with all the kids waiting patiently for pictures and the prayer before dishing up their yummy meal!!

Here is the adult table. Matt's aunt and uncle came from MA and they own a catering business, so the aunt made all the pies and rolls, which were yummy!! Also Matt's sister and her family came from New Hampshire as well. We have done a few things with them before when they have visited, so it was like seeing old friends again!

After a yummy meal and a little time to play and rest, we headed out to see the Muppet Movie! It was a hit! Loved it!
Thanks Lyon Family for having us and sharing in this Thanksgiving season with us! You are like family to us!!

Brandon's "Brocation"

Brandon and his buddy Matt took a quick "brocation/surfing trip to"

The Dominic Republic! Isn't it Beautiful! I would love to go back sometime!

They had a blast spending all their time surfing! With waves that were uber huge!!

Then even got to see some of these too! Ha-Ha-Ha!!

We were so excited to Skype with them one evening too! Amazed at technology! This sunset is amazing!

B- so glad you guys had a great time and got to take advantage of something you love doing!!!

The October Nor'Easter of 2011

Here is a photo of our swing set, it is now more of a jungle themed swing set!

This is the side of our driveway. This was a very fast moving storm with loads of snow, we not around 16-18 inches! With alot of the leaves still on the trees, we had tons of trees and limbs down, along with power outages!

Here is another picture of our driveway! Can't even get the garbage can out, there are tons of vines! Those vines are like the devil and never let go!!!

These are the steps up to our backyard, Brandon has gotten it cleared to go up there, but we still have loads more to do!

Was quite a scary situation to be out of power for around 5 days! Some people have been without power even longer. Makes you think and so grateful for what the pioneers did before us! Candles at night, games by the fireplace, cooking on the camping stove, wearing layers of clothing to keep warm. Some times it was warmer outside than in our house even! Also grateful to wonderful friends who helped us with firewood and bringing us gas for our cars! We were NOT prepared like we should have been and have been taught too! I think we learned out lesson!
A huge shout out to all the Electric workers from near and far working hours on end to help everyone get power!

A Favorite Family Past Time- Hiking!

Our hike around the beautiful lake in our town- Highland Lake.

Lil'G with his walking stick. Love to watch my kids observe nature.

Even Dandelion got to come along! Bummer the pic didn't turn out so well!

Miss P was not in the hiking mood, we brought her along anyways, so here is Miss Grumpy! She usually loves to go for hikes too!

Trunk-Or-Treat

Thank goodness our church had a Fall Festival with Trunk-or-Treating with the kids before Halloween, since we had a huge storm the weekend before Halloween, so Halloween was basically cancelled! Loved my tykes costumes this year- Lil'G as the red guitar, Miss P as Monster High- Frank E. Stein, and H as a skeleten!

Miss P sure rocker her costume!! Loved the wig and tights!

Lil'G and Big Brother H ready for a night of fun!

Just being plain goofy!

More posing for the camera!

Well, come to find out our town is holding a Trunk-or-Treat Nov. 12th to celebrate the Halloween we all had to miss due to the storm and all the power outages!

Boyz Overnighter @ Bear Mountain

These 2 took a little camping over nighter trip with a hike to Bear Mountain!

H even had to carry his own pack!

H getting his hiking on! So proud of you H! That is quite the hike!

Getting ready for some shut eye! What I love most about technology, was that I got to call them that night and was able to chat with them!!!

At the top! I am so happy for the relationship that H and his dad have! I hope you both always cherish and remember these fun memories you 2 make together! Loves!

Halloween Fun!

I love to decorate for the holidays and got this tradition from my mom who always made holidays so special by decorating our home! Thanks Mom! I am pretty proud that I also got my craft on by making a pair of yarn candy corn! I totally apologize to the person who first posted this on their blog, because I don't remember your sight, so sorry! They were fun and super easy to make!

I so love how my mantel turned out this year with some of my favorite Halloween decor pieces! Thanks to a crafty person and the Quilted Bear in Utah, me, and my mom for the fun decor!

Hope you are all enjoying this fun fall season!

*Do you like to decorate for the holidays too?*

American Girl Store- Boston, MA

For Miss P's birthday we went with our friends for the first time to American Girl store!! Miss P got a "Just Like Me" doll for Christmas last year. Here is Miss P and her friend Alex along with their little friends!

So fun to see all the dolls and set-ups they had! It was 2 stories of doll fest everywhere!

Miss P posing with Kaynoni, the doll of the year for 2011.

These 2 had a blast! Miss P picked out a"Bitty Baby" doll to add to her doll collection!

Thanks Holly and Alex for showing us the way and a great time!!! We even had dinner at a Chinese resturaunt with Gluten-Free food and it was yum!!

Ragnar- Lancaster to The Pocanos. PA

So proud of Brandon for doing a 24 hour Ragnar running race in Pennsylvania with a crew of church friends. Brandon is not a runner, he would of preferred it be a bike ride, but no, running!! He took up running while training for the race and their team even came in 3rd place in their catagory! Congrats to all! I am so impressed Brandon! You never cease to amaze me!

And what awesome views they had in Pennsylvania for the race, the Amish! What a new bunch of people.

Miss P's 9th Birthday!

Oh how I adore this girl! She screamed with excitement when she opened this movie. She has been wanting the Garfield movie for some time now, I didn't know she would react this way!!

Getting ready to make a wish! (Maybe she wished for a fish!)

9 things that I love about Miss P-
1. She has always had the best imagination!
2. Usually easygoing and always knows what she wants!
3. Loves school and will easily do her homework.
4. She has a nose like me!
5. Miss P was recently diagnosed with celiac disease and has taken it all in stride as we have to change her diet around. So proud of her!
6. Makes friends easily and is kind to others.
7. She is a great Big Sis to her lil' brother. She is going to make a good babysitter and mom!
8. She loves to quote movies! I think she memorizes everything!!
9. I love Miss P for being my girl and my snuggle bunny!

What she really wanted for her birthday- a Figit Friend! She hasn't turned it off since! It's her new interactive friend.

Happy Birthday Girl and to many more! Loves to you!